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Capell Lofft the elder
Capell Lofft the elder (14 November 1751 - 26 May 1824) was an English poet and miscellaneous writer. Life Lofft was born in Boswell Court, Carey Street, London, son of Christopher Lofft, private secretary of Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, and Anne, sister of Edward Capell, the editor of Shakespeare.Holden, 69-70. He was enrolled in September 1759 as a day-boy at Eton College, proceeding in 1769 to Peterhouse, Cambridge. His tripos verses in praise of Shakespeare were so warmly praised by Garrick to Edward Capell that the uncle and nephew made up a previous coolness. Lofft left the university in 1770 without graduating, became a member of Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar in 1775.Holden, 70. Soon afterwards his father's death gave him an independent fortune, and on the death of his uncle Edward in 1781, he succeeded to the family estates at Troston and Stanton, near Bury St. Edmunds. He lived many years in the hall at Troston; he studied political law, was a strong whig, and took part in the agitation against the slave-trade and in the opposition to the American war. Lofft was a man of many accomplishments, a good classical scholar, a great lover of literature and of natural history, an enthusiast in music, an authority on botany, and a skilled astronomer. He made an observation (6 Jan. 1818) supposed to indicate the transit of a planet inferior to Mercury, but now generally considered to have been a sun-spot (Monthly Notices, xx. 194). A small, upright, eccentric, and boyish-looking figure, he had every possible disadvantage to contend with as a public speaker. His dress was slovenly and unfashionable, as may be seen from the caricatures of him etched by Delpini and others. His voice was feeble, though sweet, and his sentences involved. He married, first, on 20 Aug. 1778, Anne, daughter of Henry Emlyn of Windsor (the architect who restored St. George's Chapel), by whom he had several children; and secondly, on 10 March 1802, Sarah Watson (authoress of many sonnets in her husband's ‘Laura’), daughter of John Finch, esq., Cambridge, by whom he had a son, Capell Lofft the younger, and 2 daughters; one of the latter, Laura Capell, became the 2nd wife of Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, bart., of Wallington, Northumberland. He had an enormous correspondence with most of the literary characters of his time. Among his personal friends were Fox, Clarkson, Wilberforce, Godwin, Dr. Jebb, Cartwright, Hazlitt, Howard the philanthropist, and especially his neighbour, Arthur Young. H. Crabb Robinson (Diary, &c., i. 29) mentions him as a prolific author, and (ib. p. 33) gives a lively description of an incident at Stowmarket, where Lofft was the hero of the day. In November 1798 Lofft secured the publication of the ‘Farmer's Boy’ by Robert Bloomfield, a native of an adjoining village, and was ridiculed for his pains in a note to Byron's English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. He was an admirer of Fox and an advocate of parliamentary reform. He spoke at Coachmakers' Hall and the Westminster Forum, and was an original member of the Society for Constitutional Reformation. ‘This little David of popular spirit,’ as he is called by Boswell (Life of Johnson, ch. lxxviii.), came to be regarded as a firebrand, especially at county meetings, where he was a leader among the reform party. His name was struck off the roll of magistrates in 1800 because of his "improper interference" in trying to save the life of a poor girl who had been condemned to death for a paltry theft by Sir Nash Grose at the Suffolk assizes. Lofft was a staunch supporter of Napoleon, who said "qu'il compterait toujours M. Capell Lofft parmi ses amis les plus affectionnés." He attracted notice in 1815 by moving the court of king's bench to issue a writ of habeas corpus to bring up the body of Napoleon, then detained as prisoner on board the Northumberland in Plymouth Harbour. In 1818 he left Troston with his family for the continent, and travelled till 1822, when he settled at Turin. In the spring of 1824 he left for Moncalieri, where he died on 26 May. Publications Poetry *''The Praises of Poetry: A poem''. London: W. Owen, 1775. *''Eudosia; or, A poem on the universe''. London: W. Richardson, 1781. Non-fiction *''View of the Several Schemes Respecting America''. London: W. Owen, 1775. *''Observations on Wesley's Second Calm Address; and incidentally on other writings upon the American question''. London: E. & C. Dilly, 1777. *''Observations upon Mrs. Macauley's History of England''. London: E. & C. Dilly]], 1778. *''Principia cum iuris universalis tum praecipue Anglicani''. (2 volumes), London: W. Owen, et al, 1779. *''Elements of Universal Law: Being a translation of the first volume of the 'Principia'.'' London: HM Law Printers, 1779. *''An Argument on the Nature of Party and Faction''. London: C. Dilly, 1780. *''Inquiry into the Legality and Expediency of Increasing the Royal Navy''. : Bury St. Edmund's, UK: Green & Gedge, for S. Bladon, London, et al, 1783. *''Observations on a dialogue entitled 'On the actual state of parliament'.'' London: C. Dilly / J. Stockale, 1783. *''An essay on the law of libels''. London: C. Dilly, 1785. *''Three Letters on the Question of Regency'' (with others). Bury St. Edmunds, UK: J. Rackham, for J. Stockdale, London, et al, 1788. *''Observations on ... Dr. Knowles's Testimonies of the divinity of Christ, from the first four centuries''. Bury St. Edmunds, UK: J. Rackham, for J. Johnson, London, 1789. *''A Vindication of the Short History of the Corporation and Test Acts''. London: J. Johnson, 1790. *''Remarks on the Letter of ... Burke, concerning the revolution in France''. London: J. Johnson, 1790. *''Remarks on the Letter of Mr. Burke to a Member of the National Assembly; with several papers''. London: J. Rackham, 1791. *''An Essay: On the effect of a dissolution of Parliament on an impeachment by the House of Commons for high crimes and misdemeanors''. Bury St. Edmunds, UK: J. Rackham, 1791. *''On the Revival of the Cause of Reform in the Representation of the House of Parliament''. London: Richard Taylor, et al, 1809. Translated *Virgil, The First and Second Georgic: Attempted in blank verse. London & Ipswich, UK: C. Punchard, 1784. Edited *''The First and Second Books of Milton's Paradise lost I only; ed. Lofft. Bury St. Edmunds, UK: J. Rackham, for J. Stockdale, London, et al, 1792. *''Aphorisms form Shakespeare. London: Gedge & Barker, for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1812. *''Laura; or, An anthology of sonnets: Original and translated''. (5 volumes), London: R. Taylor, for B. & R. Crosby, 1813-1814. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Capel Lofft 1824, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 9, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Aug. 9, 2016. Notes External links ;Poems *Capell Lofft (1751-1824) info & 5 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 *Capel Lofft (1753-1824) at Sonnet Central (8 sonnets) ;About * title=Lofft, Capel (1751-1824) Category:1751 births Category:1824 deaths Category:Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Category:People educated at Eton College Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets